Happy Birthday, Miporin!
by Narino
Summary: They did not believe her when she said she would find the perfect present. Now she is going to show them just how wrong they were. Because if there is one thing Takebe Saori is proud of, it is that she ALWAYS finds the best presents. Especially when it is for their commander's birthday.
1. Chapter 1

Friday, October 9th : Fourteen days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

It had been a rather uneventful evening up until now. Just like most of those were by now. Oarai's victory against Kuromorimine had been a month ago. Since then, the girls of the Anglerfish Team had made it a tradition to eat together every weekend. This time, they had had dinner at Hana's place.

"That was delicious!", Akiyama Yukari exclaimed while dropping on her back. The tank-addict was apparently pleased with the meal as were the other girls. Hana embarrassedly waved off the praise. "I did not do that much. It was mostly Shinzaburou."

Said man bowed his head silently before walking off to do the dishes.

"I really envy you to have someone to do all this stuff for you", Takebe Saori remarked while their tankery-teams commander was giggling at the conversation. Nishizumi Miho was enjoying herself.

"Oh! I just remembered something!"

While Yukari straightened herself again, the others were looking at her as she pointed at their commander. "Isn't your birthday in two weeks, Nishizumi-dono?"

While Miho looked mostly surprised, Hana added: "Yes, that should add up. It was the twenty-third, was it not?"

"Um... yes, it was", the shy girl started while holding out her hands defensively. "But you don't need to do anything special for me. It's fine as it is, really."

Then she noticed the unsettled expression of their most silent member. "Is something wrong, Mako-san?"

Said girl did not stop looking at their radio operator. "I don't like that look on your face, Saori."

The brunette was showing a bright smile while looking at Miho, much to the latter's confusion. "Um... Saori-san?"

"That's perfect!"

Her scream startled all of them except Mako, who was still eyeing her suspiciously. When she rose to her feet, she nearly lost her glasses due to almost jumping up and down in joy. "Miporin's birthday is soon! We will have a party and many presents!"

"B-But... I just..."

She stopped protesting before she was done with the first sentence. By now, Miho knew when a battle against the cheerful brunette was lost. And the others looked approvingly as well. So she just bowed her head in embarassment before Saori's next statement had her look up again: "But of course, the best present will be the one I'll give you!"

When only silence filled the room, Saori looked around in confusion. "What? Don't you believe me?"

After a while, Yukari answered her: "Um... I don't know. There will be a lot of people wanting to give Nishizumi-dono presents. I don't think you can just say yours will be the best."

"I agree with Yukari-san", Hana chimed in while looking at Saori with curiosity. "No one has even thought of anything as of yet."

With those two's statements, Saori's look was one of shock. When she turned to Miho, she adressed the slightly younger girl almost desparately: "But at least you believe me, right, Miporin?"

"Well... um..."

When the other brunette just scratched the back of her head while giggling embarassed, she grabbed her bag with a disbelieving scream before storming off. When she reached the door, she turned around and looked at them. Her eyes were glistening, but she was wearing a determined expression. "Just wait for it. I'll show you! I'll find the very best present in the whole world!"

With that, she ran off. The others had just looked after her with their mouths agape. Except for Mako, who just shook her head and continued eating the dessert.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

She had left the Isuzu-mansion some time ago. Now, Saori's steps were calm again while she took a few deep breaths of the chilling night's air.

'Focus, Saori. This is for Miporin, so you have to give it your all!'

But even when she said she would find the best present there was, she had no idea yet.

'Wait...'  
She stopped dead in her tracks. And fortunately for her, no one could see her almost lunatic expression lest someone might have called the police.

'That's it!'

With her usual cheerful steps, she was moving home. Saori knew exactly what to do. She was just lacking the "how" at some points, but that would come given enough time.

'Let's see... I have... nah, ten days at most. Not much, but I will make do with it.'

She would show them. Her present would be second to none.

* * *

Monday, October 12th : Eleven days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

The first step was to actually get the present. For that to happen, she needed help. And Saori did not like that.

This once, she was really, really selfish. She did not want anyone to claim their partaking in organising it. So she had to go with someone who would just let her have her way without asking too many questions. And that left only one person that fit the criteria.

So at lunch break, instead of going to the cafeteria with her friends, Saori went to an entirely different set of corridors.

 **. . .**

She did not see Miho looking after her sadly alongside Hana who wore a more concerned look.

When the two girls met with the remainder of the Anglerfish Team, they still looked down. That was when one of their juniors approached them. The twin-tailed Aya Ono who was one of the Rabbit Team's two gunners and had become one of Saori's "wardens".

"I'm really sorry to bother you, but have you seen Saori-senpai somewhere? I called her yesterday but she just said she had no time and hung up!"

Miho, Yukari and Hana looked at each other while Mako was watching the food counter.

"She just ran off to the student council's office. Maybe you can catch her later on, Aya-chan."

The younger girl bowed gratefully before running back to the other members of the Rabbit Team that were waiting for her.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

"So, what exactly do you want, Takebe-san?", the little redhead asked her while eating a dried sweet potato in between her words. As usual, Kawashima Momo and Koyama Yuzu stood at either of her sides waiting for orders of their student council president. The latter put the potato aside once she noticed Saori's serious expression.

"I need a master key for the locker rooms in the showers."

Momo spat out half of what she was drinking, fortunately not on the president who smirked interested. "And what would you need that for?"

The brunette smiled mischievously and pointed at a nearby calendar. "Miporin's birthday is soon. I need the key to prepare her present."

"What kind of nonsense... what do you think you're doing?!", Momo screamed at her accusingly while pointing a finger at her. "Just what exactly are you planning on doing with a master key?!"

Before Saori could answer, something flew through the air and hit her on the forehead and fell into her lap.

"Ouw..."

While she rubbed the reddening spot, she looked at what the president had thrown at her. Then back up at the shorter girl's grinning face. At the same time, Momo and Yuzu were watching in shock. The latter spoke first: "B-But... just to hand out such an important key..."

"What are you talking about?", the redhead replied while waving Saori off. "I haven't given any key to anyone."

"But you..."

The sentence was never completed since the redhead jammed the remaining half of her potato into Yuzu's mouth to shut her up while Saori bowed to her and headed for the door. "I knew I could count on your carelessness regarding the rules, president!"

With that, she was gone. Kadotani Anzu just smiled while taking out another sweet potato. "Whatever it is, Takebe, make it big."

 **. . .**

When they had gotten their respective meals, they sat down at their usual table. Except that one spot was empty. Miho looked at it for a while before starting to eat.

The atmosphere was rather dull without their radio operator around. But after a while of silence, a cheerful call made them look up: "What's up? You look so down!"

With that, Saori took the empty chair and opened her own lunch. She made those herself most of the time and today was no exception.

If she noticed the stunned silence, she did not react to it. Instead, she just started to eat with gusto.

"Um... Saori-san?", Miho adressed her. "Hm?"

"You know... I'm sorry about what happened last friday. I really didn't want to insult you..."

The other brunette just waved it off. "Forget about it. I told you, didn't I? You will get the best present you've ever gotten or I'll die trying."

That made the commander shut up quickly. For her friend to go at it with such determination.

"You... you are still angry at us, aren't you?"

Saori just shook her head and pointed at Yukari and Hana. "I could be angry at those two, but definitely not at you, Miporin. But really, I'm not."

To prove her point, she smiled with her usual cheerfulness, while the others exchanged another glance. Except Mako. She was eyeing Saori's half-eaten lunch.

"Since you won't eat that anyway..."

The taller girl looked at the box, then handed it over without another word of the smaller one. "You know me well, Mako."

Said girl just shrugged and started to eat.

* * *

Tuesday, October 13th : Ten days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

She had failed the day before. But this time, Saori was prepared.

When the others were already soaking in the bath after they had ended their tankery-session, the brunette had stayed behind. No one questioned it, maybe because the others were still thinking she was mad at them.

In any other case, she would have told them to stop worrying. This time, however, it was far too convenient for her plan.

So when she was sure there was no one left in the locker room, she went over to her commander's locker and opened it with the master key. A short inspection of Miho's clothing brought her what she wanted: The other brunette's phone.

'Come on, it should be here somewhere...'

Saori had to look through the stored numbers twice on the day prior, this time she found it on the first try. 'There!'

Once she found the number she needed, she pulled a sheet of paper and a pen out of her towel and wrote it down as quick as she could without confusing any of the digits.

On monday, she had failed because she forgot to bring writing material. This time, Saori succeeded.

After she was done, she returned the phone to where it had been before and tried to make it look as much as it had been before she dug through it.

Once she had locked up again, she mostly jumped back to her own locker and crammed the paper and the pen inside.

The first phase was complete.

 **. . .**

While waiting for their last member, the Anglerfish-team sat in the bath in silence, more or less discreetly viewed by the other teams.

"Did something happen with your team, Guderian?", the Hippo Team's radio operator and commander Matsumoto Riko or "Erwin" asked Miho. The latter looked at the blond history-addict with a mixture of confusion and sadness. "I don't really know. Saori-san said it was nothing, yet she keeps acting strange."

"She's not even talking about boys anymore!", Yukari chimed in which earned her a few surprised stares. Especially the juniors were terrified by those news. "Oh no, what could have happened to Saori-senpai?!" "Maybe she has hit her head?"

On the other side of the bath, the student council-members were just exchanging looks but did not say anything.

This was when the door opened and the well-known brunette strode in, humming cheerily while climbing into the bath. The others observant stares did not seem to bother her at all.

Once she had settled in, the Rabbit-team waded over to her and surrounded her concerned. "Senpai, are you alright?" "Is someone threatening you?" "Did something happen?"

Saori just shook her head and beamed at them. "Calm down, everyone. Big sister Saori is fine, really."

They calmed down slightly. That was, until Aya asked her a question: "Senpai, have you gotten a boyfriend?"

"Huh?"

While the older girl blinked at her juniors in confusion, an expectant silence had formed around the small group.

Saori shook her head and raised a hand at her chest. "Not yet, but don't worry! I will eventually!"

The younger girls started cheering and hugging her, crying about "their senpai being back" while said senpai just chuckled over their antics.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

Later that evening, when Saori tried to call the number she had acquired, no one answered the phone.

"Shoot!"

After screaming into her pillow for a few seconds, she calmed down again, then decided to try once more the next day.

* * *

Here it is, the first chapter of this rather short project. I doubt that it will be more than three chapters at all, though I might surprise myself, seeing that I am not completely done.

However, please let me know what you think of the idea.

And should you notice typos, errors within my grammar or anything else noteworthy, tell me. After all, I wish to improve my English as far as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday, October 14th : Nine days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

Her first try had been right before she went to school. Without success. Either her target was still asleep or at some kind of morning practice.

'Don't worry, Saori... there's still time left.'

That person could not be busy all day. Actually, they could. However, should she be unable to contact them until saturday, she would just send a SMS instead.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

When their lunchbreak started, Saori excused herself. "I have to make a call. Don't mind going without me, I'll be there soon."

The others nodded and went off, though not without looking back at least once except for Mako who ignored Saori's behaviour as usual.

When she found a quiet corner and made sure no one was within hearing distance, she dialed the number once again and waited anxiously for someone to pick up.

 **. . .**

Far away on another schoolship, a pair of two girls was sitting at one of the benches in their cafeteria and ate in silence. That was until the brunette's phone began ringing. Her companion watched as the young woman pulled the device out quick yet careful before looking at the screen.

"It is the same number as yesterday and this morning."

"So whoever it is, they are persistent."

While the older girl accepted the call, the younger one went back to eating.

"Hello. This is Nishizumi Maho speaking."

"Thank goodness! Finally!"

The shout had Erika looking up again. Maho on her part was holding the phone a bit away from her ear.

"Ah, sorry. This is Takebe Saori, I'm calling about Mip... Miho-sans birthday."

The older girl's brows furrowed when she thought about it. Yes, her sister's birthday was soon. However...

"How did you get this number, Takebe-san?"

The answer stunned her: "Stole it from her phone."

To just admit something like that...

"Listen, I need your help with her present, that's why I called."

By now, Erika had started leaning closer to listen in on the conversation. Maho paid her no mind while she pondered the situation for a few seconds. It did not take long for her to decide on what to do.

"How may I help you?"

 **. . .**

"Are you not at least a bit worried about Saori-san, Mako-san?"

Back at Oarai, the Anglerfish Team was watching as its most silent member answered the gentle florist's question.

"I'm not."

"But..."

Yukari's confused stammering was interrupted at once: "While she has never been like that before, it was to be expected."

Now the others just stared at the raven-haired girl that was calmly eating her lunch.

"Excuse me?", Hana found her voice again.

"You challenged Saori in what she considers herself the best. She will be back to normal after the twenty-third."

"You mean she was serious about this "best present ever"-stuff?", Yukari asked as to which Mako looked at her quizzically. "You saw how she reacted when you didn't believe her."

They looked at each other in silence for a while. Until Miho interjected, that was.

"Um... So you know what Saori-san might do?"

The slightest hint of a smile crept on Mako's face when she shook her head. "No. While Saori does not always bring the very best present, hers are never bad and mostly unique. And since you challenged her... let's see..."

She pondered something for a few seconds before looking back up at them. "Right now, I wouldn't put it past her to somehow buy Kuromorimine's Maus and have it roll in in the midst of the party."

"Honestly?!", Yukari exclaimed while the other two just sat their in silence, looking at each other and then back at Mako.

"So in other words", Hana started the sentence. However, the other black-haired girl finished it: "You created a monster."

"Who's a monster?"

The others jumped while Saori took her usual place with an overly happy expression. However, Mako answered her question bluntly: "You."

"Oi, that hurts, you know?"

The stoic girl just nodded and continued her meal.

"Nah, whatever. Maybe you're right."

The cheerful response had Miho and Hana exchange another glance while Yukari apparently still thought about the Maus. Saori just took out her own lunch and dug in.

* * *

Friday, October 16th : Seven days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

In order to get the final preparations done, she had called in sick on Thursday. And squeeled at the cheesy get-better-messages she had gotten from everyone.

However, the only message that really interested her that day came in the evening, consisting of a single row of Kanjis:

"Preparations complete. Permission was granted."

That had Saori grinning even when she knew she had to ask the student council for another favour.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

This was why she took off right at the beginning of lunchbreak once again with Miho and Hana looking after her.

When she was out of sight, the brunette turned towards her gentle friend with a shiver. "I'm not sure about all of this... but Saori-san is scaring me a bit."

The taller girl nodded, deep in thought. "I agree, Miho-san. But according to Mako-san, it should be over in another week."

"I hope so..."

 **. . .**

It had been four days and now she was here again. And once again, the president was nibbling on a dried sweet potato, flanked by her two friends and lapdogs.

"I'm really sorry to bother you again, president."

With that, she placed a basket on the smaller girl's desk. It contained another load of the beloved snack and was regarded with a mischievous smile. After that, Anzu's gaze set on Saori who was smiling just as bright.

"So you want me to do something for you again? Even when I couldn't help you last time?"

She waved it off. "It's alright. This time, I need you to change Zuikaku's course."

The revelation had Yuzu and Momo stunned momentarily.

"The course of the ship...", the well-endowed vice-president started.

"Changed?", the bespectacled girl ended.

While they were still stuttering about it, Anzu looked at Saori with interest. "And why are you asking me about that? I'm not in command of the ship."

The brunette reacted by scratching the back of her head in embarassment. "Well, I talked to the captain but she said I need your permission, too."

"Hm..."

The small redhead pondered the information for a few seconds while still eyeing the basket.

"Before I decide on that, I would like to know where you want the ship to go to."

A content smile emerged from Saori when she pulled a map out of her bag and displayed it on the free part of the president's desk. As the other girls soon realised, it was a nautical chart with a red and a black line drawn on it.

"I had the captain verify it for me. The black line is our current course, the red one is the change I am asking for."

Both lines were not far away from each other. In fact, they were mostly identical and separated just once.

"From what the sailors told me, this will cost us two days at most."

Anzu was still tracing the lines. A while later, she looked up again, showing a cheerful expression. "I don't mind, then. Would you mind if I kept this?"

"No! Not at all!"

Saori had jumped out of her seat and bowed deeply before rushing out of the door. Just as she had done on monday.

 **. . .**

Once the brunette was gone, Anzu started to remove the wrapping of her gift. Her friends observed her closely.

"Why are you doing so much for her?", Momo finally asked. Anzu merely grinned.

"I wasn't sure about it in the beginning, but now I am: Takebe is planning something big. Really big. And it is for Nishizumi-chan. I deem all of this worth it when she cries out of joy. She deserves it for saving our school, don't you agree?"

Both of them nodded understandingly while the little president finally undid the wrapping and folded it away with a few crunching noises. Then, she pulled something out of the basket and held it up before pocketing it.

"And up until now, she has done a really good job."

What she showed the other girls had been the master key she handed out to the second-year at the beginning of the week.

* * *

Sunday, October 18th : Five days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

Now was about the time that Saori got nervous. Sometimes, something tended to go wrong at the last minute. And this time, she absolutely could not have this.

However, after she had triple-checked almost everything, she realised that she had to do something to keep her mind off the upcoming event. So when the vice-president was going around and asked if someone wanted to help decorating the room they would celebrate the commander's birthday in, Saori was the first to volunteer. That action had the first-years doing the same without hesitation. In the end, almost the whole tankery-team wanted to help, even Miho herself. However, she was banned from going there before everything was ready.

* * *

Thursday, October 22th : One day until Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

"It's really nice of you to keep me company, Saori-san."

The two girls had been taking a walk in the evening. Saori just grinned at the other brunette. "Don't worry about it, Miporin. There are so many people working they don't need me at all."

For the past days, every spare minute had been used to prepare the room. Though the design had been discarded and completely redone twice, but Miho did not know about that detail.

"The air is nice at this time of the year, don't you think?"

They had reached the side of the ship and were looking out onto the sea. Saori noticed that her friend had her eyes closed and just took in the cool breeze that had her hair flowing.

So she just did the same and nodded slowly. "Yes, it is."

After a few moments of silence, Miho talked to her again: "I'm really sorry about not believing you two weeks ago. I... just never thought something like finding good presents would be so important to you."

When Saori looked at her friend, she saw the saddened expression of the younger girl. That was why she patted her head contently before speaking: "As I said, don't worry about it. I'm not mad at you or Yukari or Hana. But you got something wrong."

When she gave Saori a confused look, the latter just grinned and showed her a thumbs up. "I don't find good presents. I do find the very best presents. Just wait for tomorrow, Miporin."

That had her commander sigh in relief and lean on the railing. "I just hope you didn't somehow got the Maus like Mako-san said you might."

A quiet giggle escaped Saori's lips when she thought about it. "That's a good one. I have to keep that in mind... maybe for Yukari's wedding?"

When the other girl looked at her in surprise, she merely grimaced and added: "Well... her wedding would more likely be with the Maus, then..."

Both of them laughed freely at the joke while still watching the sea. Once it was quiet again, Miho asked her friend another question: "Would you mind telling me what exactly you did the past two weeks once my birthday is over?"

To that, the older girl gave her a playful shove. "Now what do we have here? Does naughty little Miporin want to steal my strategies?"

"What? No! Of course not! I'm just interested in what you did..."

She laughed at the embarassed expression the other girl showed before resting a hand on her shoulder. That got her attention.

"Listen, I can't tell you much. But if you promise not to look, I can tell you about one thing."

She thought about it for a while, then nodded. "Go ahead. I promise not to look."

"So, do you remember when I said I wanted to go this way? That's part of my plan, too. I needed to keep you occupied so you won't go to the other side of the ship."

"Really? What could be over there?"

At the question, Saori grinned and patted Miho's shoulder. "I have your present delivered per ship by tomorrow evening. So of course I can't just let you wander around by yourself and see it by chance."

Now the younger girl looked at her questioningly. "You really thought about it that much?"

"Of course I did!"


	3. Chapter 3

Friday, October 23th : The day of Nishizumi Miho's birthday

* * *

The big day had come at last. Or to be more exact: The big evening had come. After all, they had classes in the morning and afternoon.

Now, a blindfolded Miho was led to the prepared room by Hana and Yukari. When they reached it, she could hear faint chatter that had not completely died down yet. However, she could not concentrate on it since at this point the blindfold was removed, revealing almost thirty girls standing around her, crying out "Happy Birthday!" at the top of their lungs while throwing confetti at her.

The whole tankery-team had come to celebrate their commander's birthday. And once the storm of paper had ended, she could actually see the room behind it. It was more of a hall, though. It was a spacious place completely covered in posters and a big banner hung over the long side of the room.

"This is..."

When her eyes were resting on the neatly placed tables that apparently wore every colour imaginable while glittering in the bright light, she could finally end their sentence. "I doubt that I ever had someone go through so much trouble for my birthday... it looks wonderful, everyone!"

While most people were cheering, the student council president only grinned at Miho brightly. Once the noise had subsided, she called out to everyone: "And now to the most interesting part: It's time for the presents!"

Another cheering while the first-years took Miho's arms and dragged her over to a table in one of the corners. There, a small pile of more or less skill- and carefully wrapped boxes resided. Next to the table, there was also a box that was at least three meters tall and almost as wide.

"Where did that even come from?", Yukari asked no one in particular while pointing at the giant. Yuzu answered her: "Some of the other schools have send presents for commander Nishizumi, too. This one was delivered about an hour ago and it's from Saunders.

"No more talking!", the president chimed in while motioning for Miho to take a seat. "Start opening them!"

The girl slowly did as she was ordered. It felt a bit strange to have everyone watching her carefully open up package after package. She did not want to spoil the mood, though, so she did not say anything about it.

And she got a really interesting collection of things: A series of history-books from the Hippo Team, a big box of dried sweet potatos alongside a dozen boxes of stickers from the Turtle Team and a set of sport clothing as well as a volleyball from the Duck Team. The Mallard Team gave her copies of several rulebooks while she got a well-chosen collection of gaming-magazines from the Anteater Team and an extended set of tools for her everyday use from the Leopon Team.

Apparently, the Rabbit Team had joined their funds to buy her a bracelet made of silver combined with several attachments: A hippo, a rabbit, a turtle, a duck, a mallard, a anteater, a leopon and a anglerfish. So from now on, she could carry all of their teams symbols with her. While Miho unwrapped this one and listened to the explanation of the proud first-years, her smile that had come back a while ago brightened quite a lot.

Once that was done, the commander was motioned to open the presents of the other schools. She started with St. Gloriana's package. They had sent a expensive looking set of porcelain cups and a pot alongside several sorts of dried tea leaves and a carefully written letter of their tankery-team's commander, Darjeeling.

The next was the present of Anzio, which was a box full of home-made pasta and a photo. The latter depicted the Italian-based school's tankery team as it formed "Happy Birthday" with its members including the tanks. This was followed by Pravda's present: A collection of sweets from all over the world. With it came several pages of drawings by commander Katyusha as well as a letter written by her second-in-command, Nonna. The calm and tall girl explained to them that her commander had used a whole week to get all of those sweets together, saying: "I don't know what she might want. But sweets are always a good thing!"

This was apparently a direct quote, especially since someone had tried to score it out. Without much success, that was.

When she was told nothing had come from Kuromorimine, Miho's expression fell a bit, though only her close friends and maybe Anzu noticed. However, her disappointment was overshadowed by surprise when she opened the package of Saunders and revealed a cake. A giant cake that could feed thrice as many girls.

Then, it was the Anglerfish Team's turn. Hana was the first to hand over her present, an elegant blue and black kimono decorated with gentle drawings of flowers and stars. When Miho unfolded the piece of clothing, everyone looked at it in stunned silence before applauding the blushing florist.

After that, she got a miniature of their Panzer IV from Yukari who apologized for the lack of originality while it was unwrapped. Around this time, the first-year Aya excused herself to go to the toilet.

"It's fine, really. I think I already know where to place it."

That had the tank-addict's expression brightening while she bowed to Miho. The latter just giggled before turning towards the box Mako was holding towards her.

Once she had unwrapped it, she held a pillow in her hands. A fluffy pillow in white and green with Oarai's emblem and a chibi version of all of their school's tanks on it.

Mako's decision on what to give her made Miho smile once more.

Then, all eyes were lying on Saori who smirked contently while holding her hands behind her back.

"You're not holding anything, Takebe. Where is this present you have been preparing for a whole two weeks now?", Momo demanded to know. This was when a piercing scream could be heard from the hallways and Saori's grin widened a bit more.

"Looks like Aya-chan found it."

Some of the other girls had started to run for the door but now looked at her in confusion. That was, until the terrified first-year came running into the room, panting heavily while hiding behind her classmates. When the others asked what happened, she could only stutter.

"That... it's... I..."

When she took a deep breath and tried to calm down, Saori laid a finger on her lips and shook her head while beaming at the younger girl. "No spoiling the surprise."

Upon hearing this, Aya's eyes went wide. By now, the noise in the room had died down and one could hear footsteps from the hallway, slowly closing in on the room.

After listening to them for a while, Saori turned towards her commander and friend. "That's it, then. Happy birthday, Miporin!"

With that, she hugged the surprised girl.

Once Miho was free again, Saori motioned for the door at the exact moment a single person rounded the corner and came to a halt within the doorframe. And for the first time this evening, Miho was speechless as were most of the other girls. Saori grinned from ear to ear while waving at the newcomer who nodded at her.

In this doorframe stood Nishizumi Maho, dressed in the regular school-uniform of Kuromorimine and with a bag in her hands. She was returning her younger sister's aghast stare calmly for a while. Then, she broke the silence.

"Am I not welcome?"

To which her sibling quickly shook her head and motioned her to come in. "No, that's not it... it's... I never suspected you to come... Onee-chan..."

While the older girl entered the room completely, the others had focussed their attention on Saori and everyone asked her about how she did it at the same time. The brunette just grinned and shook her head. "That's a secret. I'm glad you made it, though."

She was nodded at once more. "There were no complications. Though I have to admit, I have never witnessed someone changing the course of two school ships for a birthday present before."

Before Saori could answer to that, Miho turned back towards her with her eyes glistening. "Saori-san... I am really sorry... I should have believed you when you said it for the first time..."

Once again, she patted the younger girls head while shaking her own. "It's fine. Had you believed me, I might've not come up with something this brilliant. Besides", she added with a look at the older Nishizumi, "I think your sister has something for you, too."

By now, Maho stood in front of the group and held out the bag to Miho who took it gingerly. First she looked inside then back at her sister and then did she lift a bandaged teddy bear out of it. Only that this one was holding a photo of two small brunettes holding the hands of their mother, all three of them smiling.

Apparently, this was the last straw. Tears began streaming down Miho's face and she hugged her surprised sister.

"Onee-chan!"

After a moment, the slightest hint of a smile crept on Maho's face while she calmly held the younger girl. Saori on her part was pleased with how it had turned out. That was when someone patted her on the shoulder. When she turned her head, she saw her student council president giving her a thumbs up and her two friends smiling at her. "Good job, Takebe-chan. That was well worth the effort."

* * *

That's it, everyone. Thank you for reading. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun writing this little story and I really hope you had just as much fun reading it.


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